Tuesday Storytime: First Snow (Happy 2016!)

Can you believe it's freaking 2016 already?  It's just unreal.  I'm still not certain when I'm actually going to feel like a grown-up, let alone this weird middle-age development.

Anyway, over the weekend it finally realized that in winter it is supposed to be cold, so we're into proper winter weather, for a proper winter storytime.

First Snow
Kim Lewis
ISBN: 1564021947
Atmospheric colored pencils of windswept wintry landscapes and expressive faces.

Sara, Sara's teddy, and Mommy are up early and out into the fields to feed the sheep before the first winter snow.  This is a slow-moving atmospheric story, focusing on the feel of the land and the air as a snowfall approaches, and on the earthy rhythms of farm life, close to animals and nature.  The astute or experienced storytimer will recognize that Sara's teddy is brought along to provide a bit of narrative drama, but it is gentle and quickly solved, even by picture book standards.  Sweet and gentle, just like a first snow.


Dream Snow
Eric Carle
ISBN: 9780399235795 (with battery-operated sounds and lights on the final page/endpaper)
Carle's signature collage pastiche and bright colors in a dreamlike not-quite Santa Claus story.

I had pulled this book a while ago, and was tempted to use it for my Christmas storytime, but the farmer in the story is never actually identified as Santa, even though just about every child will make that connection based on the illustrations.  Our farmer has a simple life; animals named One through Five, a single tree (named Tree) and simple tastes.  He dreams of snow covering the animals (achieved in the book by a series of clear overleafs with white "blankets" turned to reveal what animals One through Five actually are) and when he wakes, the snow has truly fallen.  He realizes that he's forgotten something, and dons coat and hat and gloves and boots (and here is where the Santa reference materializes) grabs boxes and a sack and rushes outside to put presents under Tree.  At this point, if you like, you can press the battery-button and the stars "twinkle" and a short chiming mysterious melody plays.


Winter is the Warmest Season
Lauren Stringer (Red Rubber Boot Day)
ISBN: 0152049673
Exuberant acrylic paints vibrantly reveal the warm heart of winter.

You may think that Summer is the warmest season, but Ms Stringer will have you convinced by the end of this lovely book that you were quite wrong.  Her lyrical and evocative text (in large letters, and not much of it per page) draws attention to all the warm delights that winter brings: grilled-cheese sandwiches, roaring radiators and fires, warm cats and glowing candles, cozy blankets and cozier snuggles.  This is one of my favorite reads, and the language just flows beautifully along with the bright and cheerful page-spreads, just busy enough to reward close attention without losing focus or attractive composition.  I think I read this at least once a year, and I'm happy to do so.